Nigeria: D'Tigers Still Strong On the Continent

Nigeria national basketball team D'Tigers, has continued to make statements on the continent by reataining its position as the second best team in Africa. The feat is coming after an impressive outing at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela and the London Olympic Games appearance in London.

The standing has gone to show the respect the team commands in the world of basketball.

Pundits have over the years predicted that the Nigerian basketball team was a sleeping giant. With the input the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the London Olympic games have afforded D'Tigers, efforts are currently in place to make the national basketball team to beat in Africa by building upon the substantial success achieved at the London Olympic Games.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation president, Tijjani Umar had told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND SPORTS that the federation's utmost desire after the Olympics outing was to consolidate by winning the African Cup of Nations which the D'Tigers have never won. He said the plan the federation is putting on ground is to ensure that once the jinx is broken in Cote d'Ivoire next year, Nigeria will retain it for a long time.

Already from the grapevine, there are reports that a former star player of D'Tigers, Ime Udoka is the potential replacement for Ayo Bakare, the present Coach of D'Tigers who took the team to the historic first time Olympics appearance thereby enabling the current status at the African rankings.

Angola currently holds the first position in the FIBA Africa ranking order. D'Tigers have earned 112.6 points as compared to Angola's 143.0 points. The national female team currently holds the 4th position at the FIBA ranking table with 33.6 points behind Mali, Senegal and Angola.

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